Riyadh: Female camel riders and coaches from around the world are gearing up to contest the Kingdom’s first all-women camel race on Monday.
The historic event, which starts at 5 p.m. at the Taif Camel Field, is part of the annual Crown Prince Camel Festival. The race will be run over a distance of 2 km, with 13 jockeys from the Kingdom, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Iran, Germany, France and the US taking part.
A French rider, who gave her name only as Coralie, said there was great potential for women-only races.
“We wanted to take it internationally … and we want to give more visibility to the sports to have more women to participate.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for this sport to get more popular among people and among women. So, we feel very lucky, you know, to have this opportunity to participate.”
While camel racing has traditionally been a male-dominated sport, the competitors in the all-female race hope the event will give women and girls the confidence to try it for themselves.
“At the beginning, I wanted to enter this field but we didn’t have races for women and I didn’t see them,” said Maryam Al-Jaber, a new rider from Qatar.
“However, after a while, I found out that there were races for women, such as the first race held in Taif. This helped me to try this experience and convey the idea to women here in Qatar.
“Women must see someone try it, because if no one participates and tries it, it will never happen.”
Camel racing is a traditional sport in the Arab world and a cultural gem in Saudi Arabia that the Crown Prince Camel Festival aims to preserve, protect and promote to a global audience.
The festival was launched in 2018 with the support of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the same year set a mark recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest camel sporting event.
This year’s festival will comprise 589 races in which local and international owners will compete for a total prize pool of $14.9 million.
